Most people working in the online business sector, think that many of the problems they are facing may be solved by marketing!
Not enough sales, marketing is the problem, not enough conversions, it is a marketing problem should be solved, no product/service awareness, you use the wrong marketing mixture! But this is not the case!
In modern business, though, rarely marketing is the problem! Usually is one of the kick-off questions a business should answer in order to have a viable chance of survival!
Why Marketing is not Enough!
Marketing is one of the major components of the vital business operations, a business should perform in order to lead you in a successful sale.
Of course, you should have a product/service that answers a “pain“ in your particular market but the specifics of how and why your product/service may match the requirements of your possible clients it is a marketing function! And marketing’s operation is to lead you to sales. Business is about profit, after all!
Marketing, though, despite the popular belief, is not enough (the most of the times)! Marketing requires the support of other business functions to bring the required results in an enterprise! And even then, many times is not successful, because either the message is wrong, or the recipients of the message are the wrong ones, or for a million more reasons usually are not been addressed successfully enough!
The right kind of marketing focuses on delivering the right message to the right people or the right product/services to the people most wanted or needed!
Digital Marketing – So Simple Even Your Kids Can Do It
Digital marketing is a particular genre of marketing and is:
an umbrella term for the targeted, measurable, and interactive marketing of products or services using digital technologies to reach and convert leads into customers.The key objective is to promote brands, build preference and increase sales through various digital marketing techniques. It is embodied by an extensive selection of service, product and brand marketing tactics, which mainly use the Internet as a core promotional medium, in addition to mobile and traditional TV and radio. (Wikipedia: Digital Marketing)
Digital marketing is focused on turning leads into loyal customers, but in an age of various agents seeking attention, is not always quite successful! But in its basic term is simple, so simple that if you put some things in an order everyone can do it with a relative success!
In order to have an effective marketing, you always need a value proposition and a plan that would define and describe all the necessary components that would lead you to a successful sale!
The ultimate goal of any marketing effort is to develop trust around its brand, presence, products, and services!
If you design an effective marketing plan for your product/service and draft a simple outline of the tasks should be made for reaching your objectives, everyone can follow it!
8 Best Practices for Digital Marketing
Even though there are not ready-made recipes for drafting and implementing an effective digital marketing plan for your business, there are some basic principles can help you to do it in the right way!
Marketing is effective when:
- Have goals. Without goals, objectives and appropriate metrics to provide the direction and the effectiveness of the marketing effort, a marketing operation cannot provide the intended results at any level!
- Ιs S.M.A.R.T. When the marketing of a business in S.M.A.R.T. (i.e. Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, Time-bound)!
- It has a solid foundation. A business and especially a new business should contemplate on all the basic parameters of its marketing and sales process. These should include (but are not limited) the definition of the niche market the business is operating in, the buyers person, the correct approaches to be used for delivering the right message to the right audience and with the right media, the careful and meticulous planning, the media mix to be used, the message and the channels use creative ways, etc.
- Ιs aligned with the strategic goals of the business. Marketing of a business should always be aligned with the strategic goals of the business! Without this allegation, the marketing of the company is destinated to fail!
- Ιs focused. Marketing is not a general “cloud” of activities and tasks. The multiplication of messages and of the channels those messages are transmitted is not guaranteed the conversion of leads to customers! Marketing should be focused on the niche market the company is operated and should address to the people are more likely to become its clients!
- It is properly addressed to the right people. If marketing does not address to the right people with the right message is a futile spending of resources, without any substantial result! The basic function of marketing is not the blind addressing of messages for public consumption, but the real communication and interaction with the possible clients of the business!
- Ιt uses the right communication channels. Marketing should always use the right communication channels to communicate and to grow its audience! Marketing is not about “just” communication. It is focused to develop a solid framework of interaction with its audience. Basic functions of marketing are listening to the demands of its market, interact with its clients and provide the best possible services to its clients and to its prospects!
- Ηas a clear message and a CTO. Marketing should always have a clear message and a Call To Action (CTO) in order to convert more lead towards clients. Is not always an easy function but you should always be crystal clear on what you do, why you do it, what are the ways/methods you solve the problems of the market you want to solve, etc. You also should always strive to develop an interesting message and communicate it creatively along many communication channels to your audience!
Question: How do you think you can plan effective marketing campaigns?
